New England Seafood purchases Blue Sea Food Company assets

New England Seafood International (NESI) has acquired the trade and certain assets of the Blue Sea Food Company from Kroll Advisory, who were appointed as administrators in early August.

The purchase secures more than 160 jobs at Devon-based Blue Sea and is welcome news for local southwest crab fishers, the wider British crab Industry and for the many customers that depend on Blue Sea for their regular supplies of British crab.

Blue Sea is the UK’s largest crab processor and annually buys more than 1,500 metric tonnes of live crab for cooking and processing at its operation in Paignton, Devon. Its primary markets are in the wholesale and food-service space, although it has moved into retail supply in recent years. It also exports cooked whole crab to Asia and Europe under its Wild Bay brand.

This move marks a return to the shellfish category for NESI, which started its journey in 1991 as an importer and distributor of live lobster to the UK’s leading hotels and restaurants. Now part of the Woocheen group of companies owned by Alaska Native Corporation Sealaska, NESI is an importer, processor, category manager and distributor of a wide range of species, including tuna, wild Alaskan salmon, cod, haddock and sea bass. NESI has relationships with most of the UK grocery chains and several leading food-service customers, as well as its own brands, Leap and Fish Said Fred.

“In getting to know the Blue Sea team and business, we have been really impressed by the passion and energy for promoting British crab in the UK and around the world,” said Woocheen Global Seafood CEO Dan Aherne. “The opportunity to participate in a new species for NESI, applying the same consumer-led “plate to sea” approach that we take to the other species that we offer, represents an exciting opportunity to create further category value.”

Aherne continued: “We are pleased to have been able to move quickly to secure the jobs at the Paignton operation and look forward to supporting the team there and working closely with the suppliers and customers of the business to forge a successful future for Blue Sea under NESI ownership.”

Blue Sea Managing Director David Markham said his company is excited about the possibilities that working with the NESI team will help unlock for Blue Sea as it begins this new chapter.

“The last 18 months have been a particularly challenging period for Blue Sea Food Company, the company that we started 20 years ago,” he said. “I am delighted NESI has stepped in with such enthusiasm and professionalism to create security for our people and for our processing operation, which plays a vital role in the UK crab-processing industry.”